Category talk:Defilers
uhm, why is Alan Yates here? he was a complete monster but I don't see how he fits as a defiler (he was plenty of other things (rapist, sociopath, racist, misognyst etc) but I don't remember him desecrating a holy site or grave.. unless burning a village counts (which I suppose could..): I think we need to be a little clearer on what makes a character a "defiler" - if possible Inferno Pendragon 20:13, January 7, 2011 (UTC) ..actually never mind, I remember now that Alan and company did defile a few gravesites (or it was heavily implied) - still a little confusing as to what exactly "defiling" means as its kind of an archiac term Inferno Pendragon 15:29, January 11, 2011 (UTC) Seriously Though.. we need to figure out what this is about as we have "malefactor" and "grave robber" and "heretic".. what exactly is "defiling"? Inferno Pendragon 12:48, January 14, 2011 (UTC) Confusing term indeed. Apparently, this is a mix of all the categories you evoked, someone who purposely staints or vandalises a sacred thing/place to take away the "sacred" of it and make it "ceremonialy unclean". I'm afraid I don't see a way too explain it clearly though. Balthus Dire 13:12, January 14, 2011 (UTC) from what I gather its a term from Ye Olden days and is akin to sacrilege (if not exactly the same) - how we'd be able to explain such a thing so your average contributor can understand I dunno.. (not that people are stupid, just such concepts are pretty confusing to begin with) Inferno Pendragon 13:24, January 14, 2011 (UTC) Why not rename the category "Sacrileges" or something? It might be an open gate for misuse though... Balthus Dire 14:00, January 14, 2011 (UTC) If you do that, people will abuse the category... but that's no reason not do do something, as some people will abuse every category they come across... Amnestyyy 14:53, January 14, 2011 (UTC) "Defiler" works - even if its a dated term: we just need someone clever enough to be able to describe it in a way modern folk will understand (excluding some IPs, obvious trolls and really dumb contributors of course): currently its kind of vague.. best I can personally think of is: "A Defiler is a character who is known to partake in the destruction of a "sacred" site or area (whether it be religious, political or otherwise) - ranging from misguided fanatics who destroy things they view as "sinful" to crazed heretics who seek to tear down the ideals of his or her society. " Even this is fairly vague (I honestly lack the skill to describe it clearly) - however clear examples of Defilers can be more easily obtained: EXAMPLES: a character who burns down a church, temple or other significant monument or structure. a character that regularly blasphemies against the accepted religions/ideals of his or her society (may be a little controversial since "blasphemy" can mean different things to different people) a character that engages in deeply immoral/inhuman acts within the confines of a church, temple or other significant monument or structure - usually with the intent of mocking the ideals of society. .. err, yeah - a little bit of a rant there but I hope it made some sense (though this category is never going to be easy to work with, to be honest, as everyone has a different idea on what counts as "deeply immoral acts" or "holy" sites) Inferno Pendragon 15:57, January 14, 2011 (UTC) I just rewrote the entire definition with hopes to make it more clear, using Inferno's example and what we evoked in this discussion, feel free to correct it if necessary. I strongly suggest to keep following this category, to be ready to react to misuses that are (I'm afraid) bound to happen. If you ask me, some people don't even bother to check the definition of a category and/or jumpo on the first suggestion offered when they begin to write one... hence our troubles. many "Corrupt official" were put into the "Corrupting Influence"category that I created. Balthus Dire 01:47, January 15, 2011 (UTC) a defiler is basically a blasphemer who does so in a particular violent manner, it is as subjective as the topic of blasphemy itself - however the following acts are considered almost universally unacceptable: deliberate violation of a holy site or icon (political icons are debatable but geniunely people dislike abusing them as well) - although flag-burning is common in some parts of the world it is also usually frowned upon as it is warmongering (and offensive): basically if you set out to severely offend someone you are a defiler.. of sorts.. hard to explain - a troll that posts images of cancer patients on a site about someone who died of cancer is also a defiler as is anyone who deliberately damages a gravesite (this type of defilement is universally hated, regardless of culture, for fairly obvious reasons) Queen Misery 10:44, January 21, 2011 (UTC) sorry to go on here but I have a small list of villains that are defilers and why, it may help: *Pazuzu (desecration of a religious icon - probably countless others, if you want to get metaphysical the act of possessing another being is defiling their body and soul.. but that's another topic altogether) *'Iconoclasts' (used to destroy religious icons - however they did so not out of malice but out of a geniune belief that such icons went against the Commandent forbidding the worship of "graven images") *Chaos Space Marines (they pretty much exist to destroy things that humans hold sacred in their setting, they are not alone however as the dark future of 40K is full of inhuman acts by all sides) *Ku Klux Klan (they have a history of burning black churches and so forth - although racial motived it doesn't stop the fact burning a church is defilement (as is, arguably, the burning of a cross) ) *Trolls (some types of Internet Troll (specifically "shock trolls" exist to do this sort of thing - for no real reason than they can..) - hope that helps a little Queen Misery 10:54, January 21, 2011 (UTC)